Kidmo
Behavioral Design System for Family Financial Literacy
Role: Product Designer, UX Strategist & Solo Builder Year: 2025–2026
Most kids experience money as abstract numbers on a screen. Allowance feels like either a chore or a game — rarely building real financial intuition or family connection.
I designed and shipped Kidmo — a parent-kid economy where earning, seeing, and spending money carries visible meaning and emotional weight.
The Challenge
Kids don’t naturally understand delayed gratification or the relationship between effort and value when money is invisible or gamified. Parents want tools that create lasting behavioral change and strengthen family conversations — not just track transactions.
My Approach
I built Kidmo as a living behavioral system with these core mechanics:
Effort → Visible Growth → Meaning loops
Recognition and celebration rituals
Clear separation between Parent oversight and Kid autonomy
Multi-kid family context that never feels confusing
Key UX Solutions Delivered
Family Dashboard
Prominent kid cards on the home screen showing avatars, names, and live balances. Parents can instantly see the full family picture and jump to any child.
Persistent Kid Selector
Horizontal avatar bar above all Parent tabs (Give • Goals • History • Manage). Allows seamless switching between children without losing place or breaking flows.
Context-Aware Headers
Every tab clearly shows “[Avatar] Orion’s Goals” or “[Avatar] Orion’s Activity.” Strong orientation so parents always know whose context they’re in.
Post-Setup Success Flow
Celebratory screen after the first child is set up, with clear primary actions: “Add another child” or “Go to dashboard.” Turns onboarding into a positive ritual.
Supabase backend
Real-time cloud sync across all devices. Families can manage the app from phone, tablet, or computer with full persistence.
The Process & Key Decisions
Family Dashboard
Why kid cards on home? Parents think in “family” first, not single child. This makes the app feel built for real households.
Persistent Kid Selector
Why persistent and always visible? Switching kids needed to feel effortless. Placing it above the Give/Goals/History tabs keeps context without forcing navigation resets.
Context-Aware Headers
Why so prominent? In multi-child families, losing track of context is a major friction point. Clear headers + avatar make orientation immediate.
Post-Setup Success + Add Child Flow
Why celebrate first? Onboarding success is a ritual. Making the first kid feel like a win increases parent confidence to add siblings.
Results & Impact
Fully functional web app shipped with multi-child support and cloud sync
6+ months of daily real-world use with my son, leading to noticeably better money conversations and responsibility at home
Solved complex family state management (switching kids without losing place or breaking flows)
Demonstrates end-to-end behavioral product design: from personal insight to shipped, persistent system
Kidmo in action
Key Insight
Well-designed systems can turn routine transactions into powerful teaching moments — whether in healthcare platforms or family life. Kidmo treats allowance not as payments, but as a living content/behavior system.
Closing
Kidmo continues in early testing with families. This project embodies my core belief that well-designed systems shape behavior — and that thoughtful design creates meaning in everyday moments.
Interested in behavioral design, consumer products, or AI-content systems?
Let’s talk.
